Amnesty International says laws against buying sex breach men's human rights

[DonkeySkin]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2545003/Amnesty-calls-legal-prostitution-Charity-says-laws-ban-people-buying-selling-sex-breach-human-rights.html

The organisation is planning to adopt a position that calls for the full decriminalisation of the sex industry, including johns and pimps.

It is tabling a paper for its UK branch to vote on that says it is a human right for 'consenting adults' to purchase sexual consent from another person (regardless of the desperate circumstances that person may be in, presumably). The paper also devotes time to that latest favourite cover-all for sex-industry advocates, 'the rights of the disabled', as a reason to allow the continuing expansion of the global sex industry with no oversight or concern from governments.

Apparently the human rights of the (overwhelmingly) women and girls who are coerced, trafficked and enslaved inside the sex industry to satisfy the demand from men for paid sex are of no concern.

Oh, sorry - Amnesty does remember to devote a whole two words to this, conceding that prostitution takes place in an 'imperfect context'. That would presumably be the context of a worldwide patriarchy that devalues female human beings, denies them education, safety and fairly paid work, and tells men they have the right to use their bodies for sex regardless of their actual desires. Not to mention, systemic racism, colonialism and exploitative capitalism.

Good to know Amnesty is prepared to stand up for the most vulnerable people on earth - male sex buyers.

vaudevelle you may not have noticed that this board is called "Feminism / women's rights chats". No-one has to "learn to accept dissonant voices" - that, along with a number of your other comments and your PM to me comes across as very, ummm, entitled. You've just got here and you're telling everyone how to conduct the discussion.

Exactly Princess I think that's a really shady line.

And at a time where the Chairman of Nestlé can say that water quite possibly shouldn't be a basic human right, it would be a sick and twisted world if paid access to use a woman or man for sexual relief was....

SauceForTheGander

That is very interesting. All I know about Amnesty is that they are "good" and raise money to try and help people who are imprisoned with torture and stuff.

The more I read through the link the more I am

I have just got to a bit where they are stating an equivalence between gay people, and people who pay for sex:

"At least one human rights body has directly applied the right to privacy to sex outside of the confines of marriage. For example, the Human Rights Committee in Toonen v. Australia, held that laws criminalizing same-sex activity in private were in breach of the ICCPR. Notably, the Committee rejected the government’s public morality justification for its criminal law. Moreover, the Committee’s reasoning did not solely focus only on sexual orientation-based discrimination, but rather it found a violation of the right to privacy because the laws interfered with adult consensual sex in private. "

WTAF?

Is this real? I am really, really shocked.

I mean it talks about concerns about people working as prostitutes to include "pollution" and "constant standing".

This is all a bad joke, right?

Sauce for the gander

AI UK is headed up by a woman. There are definitely women on the board.

I am trying to find out more about this and will update soon if I can

It's coming across more and more as a spoof. Is it ? Please let it.

No, FloraFox, I'm not talking dissonent as in anti-feminist, I mean that I'm not totally sold on prostitution being illegal. And is it not OK to expect not to be called an idiot etc.? Even if I'm new?
Anyway. I have found some opinions very interesting and have questioned my own.

Prostitution is legal in the UK.

HTH and we can move on

Thanks Thinkabout - dangers of flicking through twitter without checking

Hold on is Vaudevelle a new NN for Beth9009? The language, phrases used, stance and style of argument are spookily similar.

If not then I wouldn't bother getting in touch with her Vaudevelle, you'd loathe each other for taking the menz attention off you and it'd all end in tears.

Good point on the water wally I wonder if Amnesty have stated a position on this?

I'm going to search beth9009 to see if I should be insulted!

It is a consultation document open for consultation with members. Amnesty uk will debate and agree a response at the AGM in April in Edinburgh to go the international division.

It is not policy. As a members based organisation members need to vote and shape this.

Please don't walk away. Stay and debate and shape the policy.

Ai UK chair of the board and executive directors are both women. Really inspirational women.

I'm not sure it's even worth debating with an organisation that would publish a document as offensive and misogynist as this.

I am insulted by the idea of a vote on whether men have a human right to coerce women into sex by "purchasing" consent.

Forgive me for being boring, but I've skimmed the thread and not seen this said. It's from frothydragon and I think it just sums it up: if prostitution is work ... will teenage girls be required to do 'work experience'?

For me that sums it up.

Also if it is work will women lose their benefits if they refuse to take a job in a brothel?

The German story has been found to be untrue, snopes say there is no evidence of truth and the German policy statement is that jobs in brothers will not be advertised in job centres or mentioned tomoeoe who haven't indicated an interest. God I hope so

Literally searching for insult vaud, you'll enjoy yourself here.

Think this is not a consultation document like I have ever seen one before. It's a clear statement of a position. Also, AIUK are already lobbying the NI Assembly opposing the Nordic model. The reference materials and further reading are all decrim and from George Soros's Open Society Foundation - where is the reference to all the Nordic model material? I just don't buy it that this is somehow an open process.

They define children for the purposes of this document as anyone under 18.

They also say "consensual". Although they include doing it because your children are starving as "consensual" so arguably if you don't want to lose your benefits and have no option but to work as a prostitute that would fall under the same "consensual" banner.

I find it disturbing that for all the flannel they give about children being prostituted, in what are basically footnotes, there is no talk about how those who sell / rape them should be considered (ie criminals).

The tone of this document is totally bizarre.

Thinkaboutit Thanks for looking that up. I've moved to my lap top so searching and linking are easier. Apologies for quoting inaccuracies from twitter and thanks for corrections.

It was this internal wrangling and subsequent press stories of discrimination tribunals which I was referring to and the large payouts which you can read here within "pay controversy"

AI Wiki page

Lapdancing/webcam work has been advertised in UK jobcentres in the past. I think it was offered to some people specifically as well? It's a while ago now.

Anyway that was banned.

Amnesty presumably would want that ban overturned.

Also the notion that this buying sex from women is a "privacy" right is directly contradictory to saying it is a commercial service like any other.

The idea that sex is a basic human need also directly contradicts a position that selling sex is like selling anything else. It is a hugely gendered approach - a basic human need for men as buyers, a purely commercial transaction for women as sellers.

Sex is not a basic human right end of story and that is that.

Amen to that, nice.

German story may be untrue for now but will it stay that way? The more acceptable you make prostitution the more certain it is that we go down that path. Remember we're supposed to find selling our bodies as empowering .